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Francis talks Hurricanes takeover on NHL Live

New Carolina Hurricanes executive vice president and general manager Ron Francis was a guest of NHL Live to talk about his new position and the challenges that are before him in Carolina.

"It's been a long journey, an interesting one, a fun one," Francis said. "I don't think even I could have saw that I would have this opportunity toward the end of my career, but certainly I'm really excited to have the opportunity to lead the Carolina Hurricanes and hopefully get them going in the right direction here."

Francis, who has worked in a variety of roles with the Hurricanes since his retirement as a player in 2004, including the past three years as director of hockey operations, takes over a team that has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs five straight seasons while finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference in consecutive years.

"The fact of the matter is today's game, it's a really good League," Francis said. "There's a lot of really good teams and there's a lot of good teams that don't make the playoffs. But we got to find a way to get over that hump and get back into it, because it's certainly exciting watching on TV and we want to be a part of it."